Chief of Mission

Chief of Mission, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, India and the Maldives

Ms. Yasuko Shimizu is the Chief of Mission for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in India and the Maldives. She took up her post in June 2016.

Ms. Shimizu has been serving with UNHCR for more than 20 years. Prior to her current assignment, she was the Deputy Chief of Mission, UNHCR India since July 2015 and Deputy Representative, UNHCR Yemen betweem 2013-2015. She was earlier the Senior Field Coordinator for Rhakine situation, Myanmar. She has served in various capacities in UNHCR HQ in Geneva and for many field operations such as Afghanistan, Kosovo, Albania, Russia and Uganda.

Ms. Shimizu joined the United Nations in 1994 and was first deployed in Geneva. Previously, she also worked in Japan, Ghana and Hawaii. She is a national of Japan and holds a PhD in Policy Studies.